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Release No: 650-09August 25, 2009

Defense Business Board Issues Final NSPS Report

The Defense Business Board delivered its final report last Wednesday on the National Security Personnel System to Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, completing an independent review of NSPS, a Department of Defense civilian personnel management system under which more than 200,000 DoD employees currently operate.

“I would like to thank the Defense Business Board task group for their broad and detailed review of the National Security Personnel System” said Lynn.“I look forward to reviewing their report as part of the department’s comprehensive review of this important issue. I commend the task group for taking on such a complex and important issue.As we work towards a final decision this fall, I plan to meet with the director of the Office of Personnel Management, senior leaders in the department, and outside stakeholders to discuss the findings and recommendations in the report.”

“I also thank the task group for their hard work on the review” said Berry.“I expect this review will provide a thoughtful foundation for our deliberations on the next steps for NSPS.”

Lynn also stated that employees currently covered by NSPS will continue to follow existing NSPS regulations, policies, and procedures, and that the moratorium on further conversions of organizations to NSPS will remain in effect.

DoD and the Office of Personnel Management jointly announced the review of NSPS on March 16.A task group of the Defense Business Board was subsequently created in May and, met with union leaders and DoD stakeholders, and conducted two public hearings in June. During the three month period of their review, the task group received more than 900 comments from the public.The task group presented their findings to the full Defense Business Board for deliberation and approval in a public session on July 16, 2009.